rFactor 2 | Dev-Talk: User Experience

[Paul Jeffrey]

Studio 397 and more specifically Christopher Elliot and Rene Butler, have released a very interesting new video where they discuss the user experience and new UI functionality within rFactor 2.

Making the most of the current stay at home orders in place pretty much throughout the world, Studio 397 colleagues Christopher Elliot and Rene Butler have used the opportunity to put together a short Q&A style video around the user experience within rFactor 2 - including some interesting insight into the future development direction of current big project underway within the studio.

The HTML based new UI for rFactor 2 has taken on something of a mythical status in sim racing circles. At first, a delayed launch and much hyping led the community into something of a lather about how this seemingly boring aspect of the sim might change the player experience. Since launch, the first pass at the new UI has been met with a mixed reception from the community - but it seems like Studio 397 remain as committed as ever to developing, enhancing and improving the feature to better support ongoing developments within rFactor 2 in the years ahead.

The video is an interesting idea from the team at 397, and well worth 20 minutes of your time to sit down and watch when you get a spare minute...



rFactor 2 is available now exclusively for PC.

Want to learn some of the tricks and tips for getting rF2 to perform how you want it to? No worries, start up a thread in the rF2 sub forum here at RaceDepartment and ask our community!

 

[Shannon Flynn]

I regularly get frustrated with rF2, bitch about it on forums, and shelve it for periods of time.
But, man, when I fire it back up and drive it after a hiatus the physics and FFB models blow me away every time.

A couple of months ago I opted into the new UI beta and immediately reverted. That baby still has a long way to go last I checked. I see nothing wrong with the current UI, but I understand that the new UI will provide unlimited additional functionality. So bring it on, I suppose.

I'd prefer to see more official vehicle content released, other than GT or Formula vehicles which already oversaturate the market. Fresh, quality content could possibly help the online community as admins may be more likely to run servers with stock content rather than hosting servers with a mish mash of obscure converted content from god knows what 15 year old game.

I don't even TRY to join online races anymore. I think that's a common feeling among the community. I host servers and go out of my way to note in the server name that the server is using stock content, but joiners are rare.

 

[Flip-Flop Driver]

Yeah, it was a really nice interview!
I know that there are different teams dealing with different parts and aspects of the game and this video was about the new UI, but...

Probably I'm not just the only one who feels that fixing the following issues would be more benefical for everyone:
- fix the extreme long loading times
- implement screen mirroring for VR (like in PC2 and AMS2 and not this theater canvas like solution)
- proper saving of seat position for vehicles (NOT saving separately for everly livery of a vehicle, like now!)
- dashboard implementation in dx11 with overlays (minimap, etc.)

...and this is just a quick list from my perspective.

It's true they improved the loading times a lot already.
The "problem" is that unreal loads acc sessions in 5 sec.

 

[Case_]

I'm sorry but if in 2020 you still don't know how to implement ultrawide and instead stretch entire 16:9 screen to fit 21:9, then maybe you need more competent programmers.

There's so many things like that, though. For example, they could start by the game not implementing their own vsync methods and instead just letting you to use the nVidia/AMD stuff like Fast Sync and all that. (Then again, to be fair, I imagine that might actually be quite challenging, because that proprietary vsync might be rooted too deep into the game engine to be a simple fix.)

Hell, even an updated guide/description of the various game settings in the UI and especially in the various .json files would be great, and that shouldn't be too difficult to make. Half of the "tweaks" you find for rF2 on the internet is either deprecated or undocumented and barely anybody knows how it actually works and you have to scour the depths of the internet for it.

And don't even get me started on the absence of an FFB meter in a game where the FFB levels vary greatly from car to car and also get reset every time a car is updated. (But this at least has a workaround in the form of SimHub and other similar tools nowadays.)

And then you read in a roadmap they're "experimenting with a technology called screen space reflections" or implementing new material shaders, and you just get sad. Doubly so when you see the sheer amount of people that had their races ruined due to random freezes and stuff like that. It kinda makes you feel like rF2 is a house that barely has four walls standing upright, with windows and doors hanging off their hinges, and the owner is currently very busy installing gold-plated floor tiling.

 

[DND]

@David DeGreef Pretty sure S397 doesn't want to be bothered with things that are ACTUALLY BROKEN in the sim. If the new UI doesn't fix it, then it was never broken. I have organized/administered my final rF2 server until further notice. They are focused on eSports, not sim integrity/quality. rF2's physics/FFB combination COULD have made it an all-time sim. But I'm afraid it's not to be. However, an absolute KUDOS to ASR for continuing with new mod content.

Oh, by no means am I getting my hopes up too high as I was with my last purchase, the first release of LeMans, In which I promptly asked for a refund and have not been willing to purchase anymore content until which time the word BETA is gone from it's existence. But I do hope they get things worked out *word other than soon inserted here*, and I do think we are in agreement, as it has/had potential as an elite sim.

 

[mantasisg]

I don't know what about developers, but as just some random simracer who is just following progress and enjoying the sim, I can not wait for this UI odyssey to be over.

 

[Case_]

(BTW, disclaimer, just to make sure - I don't hate rF2 or its devs. And I generally don't enjoy being critical of anything, even if I frequently am. In fact I still quite like rF2 when it works, warts and all. But I also can't just ignore the many issues it quite obviously has, and it kinda annoys me when that happens, be it from the devs or the community.)

 

[DND]

(BTW, disclaimer, just to make sure - I don't hate rF2 or its devs. And I generally don't enjoy being critical of anything, even if I frequently am. In fact I still quite like rF2 when it works, warts and all. But I also can't just ignore the many issues it quite obviously has, and it kinda annoys me when that happens, be it from the devs or the community.)

I think any of us that are either enjoying, or have enjoyed rF2 over the years look at it as the teenager that has great potential if only....
And in this case what is fill in the blank? Focus, vision, plan, execution, time, money, personnel, too little content, too much content, mods, trouble shooting, proper testing, vetting and corrective action process! Hopefully they get it sorted before that teenager is a thirty something eating McDonald's happy meals and wearing a MAGA hat.

 

[eg01st]

I don't know what about developers, but as just some random simracer who is just following progress and enjoying the sim, I can not wait for this UI odyssey to be over.

Careful what you wish for, new UI usability is so awful that I have installed/unisntalled it 3 times already. Installed it again today, to find out if I want to use my 21:9 screen and set "widescreen" option ON, all elements get stretched and fonts get blurry. Not to mention that 80% of screenspace is unused anyway. So I pray the "new" UI stays in beta for 2 more years so I can continue using the old one.

If I didn't like rF2 I would not bother and uninstall it altogether. But nothing comes close to it if I want to have enjoyable drive, especially with MAK-Corp or ASR mods. So these many issues are so much more hurting the good things about rf2...

 

[BrunoBæ]

But, man, when I fire it back up and drive it after a hiatus the physics and FFB models blow me away every time.

Actually I proposed inside iRacings forum if iRacing could license the rF2 tire model.
But it wasnt welcomed - much.
But at least I wasnt banned

 

[numbersevenhull]

Next month they'll be an exclusive interview with the developer who was the first one to start work on the new UI

PS I only want two functions
1) One where I can set circuits, specify cars and run a championship in a handful of clicks
2) One where I can host a server/lobby from within the game, no fuss, invite friends from steam, add AI if required, in a handful of clicks

Instead I'm getting one where I can watch esports, because boy if that's not the first thing I want to do when I launch a sim (utterly redundant of course for the hundreds of VR users)

 

[Mike Smith]

One of my dream sims would be a licensed F1 sim built on the rF2 engine

I have no idea how good it will be, but a modding team called RSS Modding is working on a 2020 F1 mod for rF2. From the looks of things on their social media it should be out very soon

 

[Tar Heel]

Marcel said in a past interview they would eventually have to move on from rF2. Honestly with how slow their development is what will they accomplish before they inevitably move on to another project?

I don't think it is is being too critical to say S397 are not meeting expectations. Their focus on E-Sports the tremendously slow development of the UI, and the tone deafness to what the community has been asking for years now shows they are either in over their heads or their goals for rF2 are no longer in line with what the community wants.

 

[numbersevenhull]

I'm a little struck by the idea that the game will take you to a shopping cart if you don't have the correct DLC content to run in a server. While the functionality is no doubt welcome, it's a bit naive regarding how gamers react to these kind of things. Imagine purchasing rF2, seeing there is a popular GT3 race which wouldn't be an uncommon attraction, and then being presented with a option to spend a further £30. That kind of thing is more likely to elicit a 'this game can f@@k off' than a 'this is cool'.

 

[Alanamp]

I think its great to continue developing the UI but not essential. I would hear the users issues to possible fixes or possibles advantages of what rF2 has. Eg. Offline features like championships/Achievments/challenges because the I think the AI actually is good in market comparison, or improving the sounds/graphics a little.

 

[mantasisg]

Careful what you wish for, new UI usability is so awful that I have installed/unisntalled it 3 times already. Installed it again today, to find out if I want to use my 21:9 screen and set "widescreen" option ON, all elements get stretched and fonts get blurry. Not to mention that 80% of screenspace is unused anyway. So I pray the "new" UI stays in beta for 2 more years so I can continue using the old one.

If I didn't like rF2 I would not bother and uninstall it altogether. But nothing comes close to it if I want to have enjoyable drive, especially with MAK-Corp or ASR mods. So these many issues are so much more hurting the good things about rf2...

Yeah... I haven't even tried it yet, mostly because I need devode, also because it quickly come clear that some stuff is (was?) wrong over there.

I understand your arguments, but my argument is that if there is mostly UI work all the time, then lots of other things are never going to get better. Also of course assuming they would get better, not worse... For worst case scenario it is possible to move to past build, isn't it ?

 

[2stains]

They did say at one point they had to focus time on building out content they could sell to actually make it profitable in order to improve the sim.

I buy that. If it was profitable for ISI they wouldn't have sold it.

rF2 needs tlc, but it needs to survive first.

Yeah they need to sell DLC to profit so they can continue but my problem with the DLC is that it's never a complete polished DLC! Always seems rushed and incomplete then never actually complete even years after the DLC is released, it still has all the same faults reported by many users. Also over priced for the polish, if it was perfect then yeah charge the premium or at least update the product to fix glaring issues!

 

[2stains]

Ui needs dark mode, or a warning to get sunglasses ready!

 

[atomed]

I fired up rF2 for the first time in a good while the other day...crikey, it might be the best driving sim out there. I just struggle finding good content that interests me.

One of my dream sims would be a licensed F1 sim built on the rF2 engine. I'll take modern, but even better would be classic content.

Try the 1986 F1 mod with the 1988 season tracks, absolutely astounding.

 

[Oldzeb]

bashing topic!

 

[Durge Driven]

Not their fault, but rF2 original code is clearly a disaster!

In your opinion and what is that worth when it comes to knowing inner workings of gmotor2.5

IMHO it is without equal in driving immersion

This is what you should do, examine rF2 Gravity and Rolling Resistance

I can tell you now what you will find
1. rF2 cars will get more air ..why ?
2. rF2 cars will roll 200% - 400% more then any other engine ....... why ?

Now try to imagine what that would do for physics ... less gravity makes the car more reactive on even slightest bumps
and rolling resistance makes the front push in turns

...and that is what makes rF2 come alive